ICI Concrete Panorama & Deminar 2013 (4^th Edition)

Innovation in Decorative Concrete

Thanks to the thrust on infrastructure development in India by the Government and other private sectors. In the past five years mega construction projects involving the use of concrete have been executed successfully in a big way. Of course, concrete being the most preferred material in construction of any magnitude. Simultaneously, concrete has undergone a huge aesthetic transformation with the advent of technology.In view of this, to keep up with the trends and innovations in the concrete, Indian Concrete Institute, Karnataka organised their regular flagship event ICI Concrete Panorama & Deminar 2013 at B M S College of Engineering, Bangalore.

It was a National level Deminar focussing on "Innovative and Decorative Concretes" showcasing latest innovations in Decorative concretes, GFRC Products, Special cements, Mineral additives, Precast products, high grade concrete, construction equipment  and construction techniques in India. The Deminar 2013 was inaugurated by Mr. Jose Kurian, President-ICI and Chief Engineer -Delhi Tourism Development Corporation. The Guests of Honour for the event were Dr. R. Jagadeesh Past president - ICI, Dr. K. Mallikarjuna Babu Principal - BMS College of Engineering, Mr. Rajkumar Pillai Vice President -ICI-South. ICI-Bangalore chapter President, Dr. Ranganath, was also present on the dais. The two-day long event captured over 300 delegates and 150 students across India including architects, construction companies, builders, consulting engineers, government departments, academic & research experts. Manufacturers were also present at the event displaying array of their products.

Several eminent speakers from all over India shared their expert views on the concrete industry that included product demonstrations of the recent innovations in Decorative Concretes, Concrete Polishing, M200 Grade Ultra High Performance Concrete, Coloured Concrete, Fiber Reinforced Concretes, Exposed Aggregate Concretes and Geo Polymer Concretes / Construction Equipment among other topics.

From concrete to high performance concrete

Mr. Milind Joshi, consultant, Ambuja Cement Ltd (Alccofine products) shared his thoughts on how concrete can become High Performance Concrete (HPC) with use of ultra fine materials. Even now, concrete is considered as the ‘developing material’ however, with the usage of chemical and mineral admixtures many properties including durability can be enhanced. Most commonly, only ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, metakoaline, and rice husk ash are used as cementing materials, but,

The growth of new developments in construction industry is at very high speed and this trend demands various properties of concrete to perform other than only strength and there is also a need to develop performance base concrete. In this scenario, the need of HPC comes in. HPC meets a special combination of performance and uniformity requirements, which cannot be achieved through normal mixing, placing and curing practices. HPC comes with the advantages of ease of placement, long term permeability, long term mechanical properties, toughness, long life in severe environments among others. Alloying certain micro fine materials with cement, HPC can be achieved. For instance, to achieve high early strength, cement can be blended with micro fine cement and micro fine slag. "To achieve, HPC, fineness of cement, cementitious materials, the particle size, distribution shape, surface nature play a significant role," adds Joshi.

Mr. N P Sharma, chief engineer-technical, ACC Limited shared his thoughts on 'Super finish SCC Precast panels for tunnel lining'. He said that the quality control and testing of materials for segments along with the detail information on the concrete mix used for tunnel lining segments. He also emphasized on the Quality Control tests for Raw materials & concrete which includes raw materials, cement, fly ash, water, chemical admixture, concrete and reinforcement bars.

Pre-cast Concrete for mass housing

Mass housing makes sense in developing countries like India. Here housing shortage is most prevalent. According to the estimates made by the Technical Group, constituted by the Ministry of Housing & urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, for assessment of the urban housing shortage at the end of the 10^th Five Year Plan, the total housing shortage in the country is 24.71 million. On meeting such huge demands, the challenges within the construction industry have to be dealt with. The ubiquitous problems in this sector are delivering housing projects on time and to obtain skilled workers. In this scenario, pre-cast concrete comes as a significant solution. Normally modular structure helps to deliver mass housing in least possible time with best quality. While speaking on 'Innovative Concretes in Affordable housing', Mr. Somashekar, managing director, PG Setty Construction Techonologies Pvt. Ltd said, "Precast concrete construction is faster to install with its uniform high quality. The durability studies have shown it can provide life span of over 100 years. It requires less ongoing maintenance and reduced likelihood of future problems.

Mr. Somashekar gave details on Mooreliving Building System (MBS), a world patented load bearing reinforced concrete pre-cast system that was invented by Mr. Gavin Moore of New Zealand. He said, "In India, MBS technology is modified to suit the requirement of Indian conditions to achieve the cost factor without compromising on the strength, safety or finish of the structures." To meet the vast demand for housing in India over a short span of time, Precast concrete construction would be one of the most appropriate technology available, he added.

Glassy innovation

Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) has been making a significant contribution to the technology, aesthetics of modern construction for over 30 years. It is an environmental friendly that also acts as noise absorbing barrier. Being a suitable material for renovation, GFRC reduces loadings on buildings leading to significant savings in superstructures and foundations. Mr. Raj Pillai, ED - Concrete Products Division - Sobha Developers Ltd, covered a comprehensive topic on 'GFRC Precast products in architectural buildings' at the event. He said, "Even though GFRC is slightly expensive due to use of white cement and Alkali resistant glass fibres, but is more durable when compared to conventional concrete. The panels can be easily installed at site and requires low maintenance."

The application areas where GFRC has been used are exterior wall cladding, interior wall cladding, cornices and arch, window sill and corbel, GFRC column base & capital base and column cladding, baluster and railing systems, landscape products, garden planter box, jail / screen, brackets, duct covering systems and GFRC can be used as noise absorbing barriers.

Concrete flooring is in

From the traditional mosaic, marble, granite and vitrified flooring the construction industry is moving towards concrete flooring. Several innovations have been made in this segment too. Mr. Sachin Surie of Surie Polex - New Delhi shared his vie on 'Polished Concrete Dye System'. By grinding and polishing with special diamond tools and treating with silicate based hardeners ordinary concrete floors are converted into Diamond Polished Concrete Floors. Densification, which is an integral part of the polishing, makes the concrete harder and denser. In this process, silicates react with the free limes (CaOH) in concrete to form calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) and the formation of CSH makes concrete denser and prevents dusting. The commonly used silicates in concrete flooring are Sodium, Potassium and Lithium. The most effective is Lithium component for its reactiveness, depth of penetration and non-expansive reaction. Concrete floors are more prevalent among industries, retail stores, warehouse outlets, automobile showrooms, hotels and private residences.

UHSC enhances durability

Speaking on M-200 Grade Ultra High Strength and High Performance Concrete, Mr. G B Vamdev, Fosroc Chemicals (I) Pvt. Ltd notes that a tremendous progress has been made in concrete technology and development of Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC) with compressive strength over 200 Mpa. UHSC, which is also known as Reactive powder concrete is a new type of ultra-high strength and high ductile composite material with advanced mechanical properties.
It comprises a special concrete where its microstructure is optimized by precise gradation of all particles in the mix to yield maximum density. It uses extensively the pozzolanic properties of highly refined silica fume. UHSC brings lot of advantages to a structure, Mr. Vamdev emphasizing on the application of USHC adds, "It is used to lower the structural weight, save the space, greater structural spans (bridges), extra safety or security such as blast resistant structures and structure in seismic regions. It also enables to build an extremely high-rise building." UHSC consumes fewer amounts of natural resources like cement and sand and aggregates considering the total volume instead of the volume per unit, so that it will be environmental friendly materials. UHSC will be highly durable concrete compared to NSC, therefore, life of structure will be much longer, which is over 150 years.

 Properties of Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC )

• Compressive Strength:  200 to 800 MPa
• 100MPa or greater, 24 hours after initial set
• Tensile Strength:  20 to 50 MPa, twice as strong as normal concrete in compression
• 6-13 MPa tensile strength after first cracking!
• Flexural Strength: 100 MPa flexural strength at first cracking is higher than ultimate flexural strength of normal concrete.
• Young’s Modulus 50 to 75 GPa
• Fracture energies ranging from 15,000 to 40,000 J/m² (plastic failure rather than brittle)
• Great durability.  Nearly impermeable.  No carbonation or penetration of chlorides and sulfates, high resistance to acid attack. (Due to low and disconnected pore structure resulting from the size of the powder materials.
• Light weight and long life.

Courtesy: FORSOC Constructive Solutions 

Mooreliving Building System in precast concrete construction

• Specialised in low-rise buildings (upto 5 floors).
• Load bearing panels-no need of pillars/columns for G+4 buildings.
• No water used for curing.
• Faster production-one panel produced for every 8 hours from each mould.
• High strength structure using higher grade concrete and structural designs.
• Termite and vermin proof

Courtesy: PG Setty Construction Technologies Pvt. Ltd.